Abstract

Industrial clusters are common today and the product of social evolution. They have become a “hot issue” confronting the academic circle，the government and enterprises. How to grasp its evolving rules，to make scientific and reasonable strategies are the common problems facing governmental policy makers and strategy makers from enterprises. However，research in economic theory of industrial cluster evolution lags far behind government’s and enterprises’ practice demand，this research is aimed at filling the gap.

Different interpretations of industrial cluster result in different objects of theoretical research in industrial cluster After conducting a conceptual investigation of industrial cluster，there are 2 ways to interpret it，firstly，industrial cluster as an “individual” which refers to the unique industrial cluster organizations distributed around the word which makes them different form other economic organizations；secondly，as a category，industrial cluster refers to a unique economic phenomenon originated from social changes from other economic phenomena. Industrial cluster research on the individual level is micro research while industrial cluster research on the “category” level is macro research. Therefore，there are two basic ways to study industrial cluster evolution：micro evolution research on “individual” level industrial cluster evolutionary rules and macro evolutionary research on “category” level industrial cluster evolutionary rules. Nowadays the biggest flaw in research in industrial cluster evolutionary rules is the lack of research on industrial cluster macro evolutionary rule. This research is aimed at connecting this as well as exploring and establishing a relatively comprehensive analytical framework for the evolution of industrial clusters Regarding research structure，the thesis categorizes industrial cluster evolutionary research into industrial cluster micro evolutionary research，industrial cluster macro evolutionary research，interactive effect research of industrial cluster micro evolution and macro evolution and national industrial cluster policy research.

In seven chapters，the research elaborate the following five themes：1） industrial cluster evolutionary research theoretical summary and methodology，2） industrial cluster and industrial cluster evolution，3） industrial cluster micro evolutionary research，4） industrial cluster macro evolutionary research，5） national industrial cluster policy research.

Chapter 1. Introduction. The Introduction mainly focuses on two points，Literature review on domestic and overseas research on industrial cluster evolution，and research methodology. Potential innovation of this part is to differentiate industrial cluster’s individual level analysis from its category level analysis and furthermore，to lay the foundation for a relatively complete industrial cluster micro evolution and industrial cluster macro evolution in addition to outline a new field for industrial cluster evolutionary research.

Chapter 2. Industrial Cluster and Industrial Cluster Evolution. This part focuses on the following four issues：I. Conceptual distinctions of industrial cluster；II. Definition of Industrial cluster micro evolution，evolutionary direction and decisive power and life circle curve；III. Definition of industrial cluster macro evolution，decision module and basic rules （generation rule and the rule of center-periphery）；IV. Unification of industrial cluster’s micro evolution and macro revolution.

Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the research in industrial cluster evolution. Chapter 3 researches the micro structure of industrial cluster and establishes micro structure’s CE module. With the use of CE module，it differentiates industrial cluster’s characteristics from its outer environment while laying the foundation. for chapter 4’s analysis Based on CE module，chapter 4 establishes ED module which analyzes industrial cluster’s life circle curve. Through analyzing evolutionary factors and degeneration factors，the module researches industrial cluster’s evolutionary and degenerate curves and furthermore，arrives at industrial cluster’s ideal life circle curve and real life circle curve. The potential innovation of this part is exploring the combination of industrial cluster’s internal characteristics and external environment instead of seeking micro evolutionary mechanism’s conventional methods solely from industrial cluster’s interior or exterior. Through research of industrial cluster’s micro evolutionary rule from both systematic evolution and systematic degradation aspects，it arrives at industrial cluster’s life circle curve and its decisive mechanism.

Chapters 5 and 6 focus on research in industrial cluster’s macro evolution. Chapter 5 researches the origin，current situation and geographic distribution from both historical and geographic angles and arrives at industrial cluster’s macro evolution’s generation rule and the rule of center-periphery. The essay finds four major factors affecting industrial cluster’s macro evolution through population scattering and gathering，industrial cluster’s historical changes and geographic distribution，namely technology （T），demand （D），resources（R） and institution （I）. Based on the four major factors，the TDRI model for the analysis of industrial cluster’s macro evolution will be used for the research of Chapter 6. Chapter 6 elaborates on the effects of technology，demand，resources and institution on industrial cluster’s generation rule and the rule of center-periphery. Potential innovation of this part is to reveal two basic rules of industrial cluster’s macro evolution：generation rule and the rule of center-periphery，technology，demand，resources and institution’s influential mechanism on the two rules.

Chapter 7 is on the research of national industrial cluster policies. Based on industrial cluster’s micro evolutionary rules，this part puts forward that the government should position industrial cluster management at different levels. Based on industrial cluster’s macro evolutionary rules，this part states that the government should rationalize its strategic choice for industrial cluster development. Based on industrial cluster’s evolutionary research，this part outlines national dynamic industrial cluster policy’s meaning and goals. The end of this part is on the research of our country’s industrial cluster policy. The potential innovation of this part is to propose that national industrial cluster policy and industrial cluster’s evolutionary rules should be matched dynamically.

No study is perfect. This research has the following weaknesses：industrial cluster’s micro research only focuses industrial cluster life circle curve but omits other micro evolutionary problems such as industrial cluster’s micro structural evolution，industrial cluster innovative capability evolution，etc. Secondly，research on industrial cluster’s macro evolution focus only on industrial cluster’s historical generation rule and periphery distribution rule of it’s geographic center instead of industrial cluster’s macro evolutionary basic forms such as industrial cluster conglomeration，transfer and division of labor. Thirdly，national industrial cluster’s policy research focuses only on government’s positioning at different levels，national industrial cluster’s strategy and dynamic industrial cluster policies instead of the various problems inside government’s administration of industrial cluster.